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Welcome to the Trout Unlimited Prince County Chapter website
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Trout Unlimited Prince County Chapter was formed in the late 1970’s by a group of local hunters concerned about illegal hunting practices being carried out. Originally founded as The O’Leary Wildlife Federation, it was primarily through the efforts of this group with support from the Tignish group that the first conservation officer was brought to West Prince in 1980. In 1984 David Biggar was elected as president and the focus of the group turned more toward environmental issues and concerns with habitat. Mr. Biggar led the efforts for over twenty five years until his passing in 2007. In that time the group has carried out stream enhancement work and operated Profit’s Pond, a semi-natural rearing site for Atlantic salmon in Rosebank. Operation of the pond was taken over by the group in 1985 from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. In addition to raising Atlantic salmon at Profit’s Pond, the group began raising Brook Trout for stocking in local rivers in 1993. With the abolition of the provincial stocking program in 2004, the stocking efforts could not be continued. Originally the main focus the stream work was concentrated in the Trout River which was alder-choked, silt-laden, and beaver-infested. As work on the Trout River progressed and conditions began to improve, the group saw the need for the same kind work in other systems. There were few watershed groups at that time so the group began working on rivers throughout West Prince. Over time, this work inspired like-minded individuals to form their own groups in these areas, and in 1994 the focus of the work turned solely to Trout River. In 2004 the group joined Trout Unlimited Canada, and became Trout Unlimited Prince County Chapter. The traditional stream enhancement measures evolved to include digger logs, spawning bed enhancement, and river specific management. Riparian zone enhancement was also started, with thousands of trees being planted, bird and bat houses erected, and a 4km nature trail being built along the river. In 1996 a log cabin interpretive center was built on site. All these measures have made Trout River an environmental showcase.
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